Disney Shorts: Lost Club Penguin Game Resurfaced The Internet After 10 Years, Mickey Mouse Enters The Public Domain With The Launch Of New Film Mickey's Mousetrap And Disney Released A Children's Book Based On Alien

First look at Club Waddles

Club Waddles was a Club Penguin fan game made in late 2008 by Nikeguy23 and 6 Strings (The moderators of Club Waddles). According to Nike:

"We decided to make this game, because we all thought it would be awesome to have and MMOG we could call our own".

In middle 2009, Club Waddles shutdown due the quit of Bod720 (The only coder of CW), Kyle (the Sketch-A-Thon Contest winner), Raqumine and Scooby Mad (The moderators of Club Waddles).

CW has been actually unfinished, So only beta tests has been made. However, The beta tests are avaiable but unplayable due the end of Flash Player and not working WayBack Machine links. So only beta tests gameplays are avaiable on YouTube.

Mickey Mouse becomes a serial killer

On the first day that Disney‘s 1928 short Steamboat Willie entered the public domain, a trailer has dropped for a horror comedy film featuring none other than Mickey Mouse as the killer.

The synopsis for the film, called Mickey’s Mouse Trap, reads: “It’s Alex’s 21st birthday, but she’s stuck at the amusement arcade on a late shift so her friends decide to surprise her, but a masked killer dressed as Mickey Mouse decides to play a game of his own with them which she must survive".

The trailer features, yep, a person in a Mickey Mouse costume, wearing what resembles a hockey jersey without the letters, attacking a victim and stalking others inside a Chuck E. Cheese-like place (reminiscent of last year’s horror hit Five Nights at Freddy’s). There also is Scream-like self-awareness about the horror genre, including one character predicting that another is going to get killed since he says, “I’ll be right back.”

Disney is making a preschool oriented project for Alien

Disney is releasing an illustrated children’s book aimed at toddlers titled “A Is for Alien: An ABC Book,” based on Ridley Scott’s R-rated, 1979 horror classic “Alien.” You know, the one where a slimy alien monster bursts from someone’s chest cavity and a crew aboard a creaky, dark spaceship are picked off one by one in the pinnacle example of atmospheric terror.

The book, which is published by Little Golden Books and Illustrated by Disney Storybook Art Team, is available for pre-order now and will be released on July 9, 2024. It’s already rocketed up to the #1 New Release among Children’s Science Fiction Books on Amazon (#6 among all Children’s Books and cracking the Top 40 among all books for any age and genre).

More Channel Closures As The Disney Channel Exits OSN In The Middle East And North Africa, Could More Regions Likely Follow?

Since Disney+ inception back in 2019, Disney has closed various linear channels globally to prioritise their direct to consumer business. With the latter currently situated within Europe and Africa, Disney has slowly but surely further distance themselves from their linear business.

Last year, Disney axed their remaining linear offering seen in parts of Asia by New Year's Eve. They had also managed several linear channels within the Middle East and North Africa through pay-tv operator OSN who had substituted these brands with Cartoon Network and Animal Planet.

These channels are still available in the regions but on smaller platforms which will make it a lot more easier to close.

If there's one thing that's certain here, Disney Channel's days in South Africa and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa are numbered and although a timeframe has yet to be reached. We presume that Disney will look into closing feeds in the surrounding areas ahead of time.

Similar to MTV and Nick Jr, Disney had been cutting back on localised feeds with the remaining aligning themselves with Southern Africa. It has been somewhat chaotic with shows like Hailey's On It and Disney's Saturdays airing as quadruple on weekdays.

Despite only having less than 13 episodes on air, it has been bumpy ride particularly with their programme guide mislabeling shows and movies. It's clear that all their efforts will be put on Disney+ if the plan would be making an original available monthly on linear platforms.

They had ripped away various originals such as The Owl House and Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure before their final seasons. Disney+ acquired exclusive rights to Marvel's Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur despite being viewed on Disney Channel overseas.

MultiChoice and various other pay-tv operators will have a hard time trying to replace these channels. Speaking as a long time fan, the best option would be having Disney Channel spun off like Sky Kids/Universal Kids have with DreamWorks but for consumers in Africa.

News Shorts: German Based Broadcaster Deutsche Welle Shutters It's Linear Operations Across Europe And Africa, National Geographic And ESPN Have Been Added To Zuku TV And A Rebroadcast Of Dayan, Destructive Beauty Launches On eExtra

DW goes dark across Europe

The move is part of a package of measures presented by DW director Peter Limbourg to the DW broadcasting council in Berlin on March 17, 2023.

“We will no longer broadcast linear programming in German after the changeover, but we will offer singular content on digital platforms,” the DW spokesman said. The date for the closure of the German TV channel has not yet been set. “I’m not able to provide a specific date at this time,” he added.

With the package of measures as part of the 2024 budget planning, Limbourg wants to drive the digital transformation of the German international service. Included are savings, budget shifts from linear to digital offerings and to regional languages, as well as investments in digital working environments.

Zee TV dying down on eExtra

After cutting down on primetime for more Annekan Die Swa Kry and axing Naagin much earlier than anticipated. A rebroadcast of Dayan, Destructive Beauty is expected to join the channel's line-up in the coming weeks replacing the timeslot of Naagin supposedly.

Dayan, Destructive Beauty was the first and probably last Bollywood drama to have been made exclusive to eVOD before being added to linear platforms. Now eVOD's international drama lineup outside of Kuiertyd is revolved on content viewed on eSeries and eExtra.

It follows Janvi Maurya, a well-educated and family oriented girl hailing from Ujjain, stumbles upon a dangerous ploy by an evil force as many unusual and mysterious happenings occur in her hometown. With a threat to her life, she must unmask the identity of a Daayan.

Sports makes a comeback on Zuku TV

Last year, it was revealed through several social outlets that Zuku TV will be relaunching National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, Baby TV and ESPN 1 after removing them back in 2021. The only difference FOX and ESPN 2 aren't part of this offering.

These channels were replaced with Animal Planet, Discovery and TLC from Warner Bros. Discovery, Filmbox from SPI International and Planet Fun years prior. But the pay-tv platform failed to substitute the sporting line-up with any chances of a replacement likely dead at this point.

News Shorts: Warner Bros. Discovery Acquired Turkish Streaming Service BluTV, Bunk'd To End With A Season 7 On Disney Channel And Disney To Discontinue The FOX Sports Brand In Latin America For ESPN

Max and Discovery+ have a new home in Turkey

For the past three years, Warner Bros. Discovery and BluTV — Turkey’s first local SVOD service — have had a partnership that made WBD a 35% shareholder in BluTV. Since its 2016 launch, BluTV has shown rapid growth both in original content and its content library, leading to the launch of Discovery+ on the platform in 2021. In February, HBO content and kids channels were added to BluTV, giving viewers access to channels like Cartoon Network and Cartoonito, as well as award-winning shows like “The Last of Us,” “Game of Thrones” and “Sex and the City.”

“We are very excited for this new chapter,” Jamie Cooke, GM CEE of Middle East and Turkey at Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. “Turkey has been an important investment territory for us for over 20 years and the acquisition of BluTV brings Turkey’s first local SVOD player into our portfolio. The combination of compelling Turkish content and a broad range of the best international series and shows from Warner Bros. Discovery is an unbeatable recipe to be locally relevant and successful. Together we bring Turkish audiences the most compelling viewing experience and expand the reach of Turkish content globally.”

Fan favourite show has been axed by Disney

Bunk’d, Disney Channel‘s longest-running live-action series, will end its run with the conclusion of its current seventh season. The final installment of 10 new episodes will air in 2024.

Production on Season 7 was suspended in early May due to the WGA strike. At that time, filming had been completed on 12 episodes of the 20-episode Season 7, with eight episodes remaining to be shot. The order has now been increased to 22 episodes, and production on the remaining 10 episodes is underway.

Throughout its run, Bunk’d has been a top performer on linear TV and streaming platforms. Part 1 of Season 7 was summer 2023’s second most-watched live-action series and Top 10 series overall for kids 6-11 in combined viewing across streaming and linear platforms, according to Nielsen data (Live+7 for linear, live for streaming).

Disney is adding more ESPN channels

The Walt Disney Company has confirmed that as from February 15, 2024 it will rebrand all its Fox Sports channels in Spanish-speaking Latin America and Brazil in order to discontinue the brand in the region. The new Pay TV sports channels will be ESPN 5, ESPN 6 and ESPN 7. 

According to the information given by Disney, the changes to be introduced are the following:

-Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela: ESPN EXTRA will be renamed as ESPN 4, ESPN 4 AS ESPN 5, FOX SPORTS 2 as ESPN 6 and FOX SPORTS 3 as ESPN 7.

-Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru: ESPN EXTRA will be renamed as ESPN 4, ESPN 4 as ESPN 5, FOX SPORTS 2 as ESPN 6 and FOX SPORTS 3 as ESPN 7.

-Chile: ESPN EXTRA will be renamed as ESPN 4, ESPN 4 as ESPN 5, FOX SPORTS 2 as ESPN 6, FOX SPORTS 3 as ESPN 7 and FOX SPORTS 1 PREMIUM as ESPN PREMIUM.

-Central America: ESPN EXTRA is to be renamed as ESPN 4, ESPN 4 as ESPN 5 and FOX SPORTS 3 as ESPN 6.

-Brazil: ESPN EXTRA will change its name to ESPN 6 and FOX SPORTS 2 to ESPN 5. 

Development Alert: Disney Star And Reliance Are Merging To Form A Media Powerhouse, Might Lead To The Merger Of JioCinema And Disney+ Hotstar

Disney has taken another big step toward realigning its India strategy. The company has signed a non-binding term sheet with Reliance Industries that would see the two merge their Indian operations, the completion of which would create one of India’s biggest entertainment empires. 

Under the terms, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group would own 51% of the merged entity through a combination of shares and cash. Disney would hold the remaining 49% of shares.

The term sheet was finalized at a meeting last week in London that saw Bob Iger advisor Kevin Mayer representing Disney and Ambani advisor Manoj Modi there for Reliance. According to the Economic Times, the duo has been working for months on terms.

The merger deal is expected to be completed by February, even though Reliance is said to be hoping to wrap it up in late January.

Iger, who has cut thousands of jobs this year and faces pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz, said on last month’s earnings call that Disney would like to stay in India, but try and “strengthen our hand, improve the bottom line.”

Hotstar, the streaming outlet initially launched by Star India, came under Disney’s control as part of the $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets in 2019. Disney has used the Star assets in various ways to help attain its goal of 300 million to 350 million overall streaming subscribers by 2024. 

Star+ Will Be Integrated Under Disney+ In Brazil And Latin America By 2024

A major change in the streaming market will take place in Brazil in 2024. Disney will close the Star+ service application and unify the platform with Disney+ in the second half of next year. 

Currently, Disney sells the two subscriptions separately and also on Combo+, which offers both platforms for a single price. It is also possible to subscribe to services at a lower price using the Meli+ subscription, from Mercado Livre. 

The unification of streaming services was confirmed by Disney in a press release. The action seems like a natural step for the company, which will also do something similar in the United States, with the Hulu platform. 

The Star+ application will be closed in Brazil and Latin America. 

Changes for the consumer 

According to official information, Disney will announce more details about the merger in the future, including issues such as the price and destination of Star+ subscribers, which will be closed. 

For consumers who already subscribe to Combo+, the change will bring more convenience during use. Currently, Disney+ and Star+ use applications that are practically the same, but have separate catalogs. 

While the Disney-named service focuses on the company's productions, Pixar and Marvel, Star is usually the home of Fox and sports. 

Currently, Star+ has productions from American channels such as FX and ABC, in addition to sports programming from ESPN. With the merger, this content will be centralized in just one application in Brazil and Latin America. 

Thus, in addition to bringing all the Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars films, Disney+ will also feature sports content and award-winning television productions. 

DLife Is Being Revived In Japan As A Replacement To FOX From March 2024

Following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century FOX, they had been phasing out the FOX brand name across several of their properties. This has led the closure of numerous FOX channels across Europe, Africa and Asia with others being converted to Star or FX.

According to the FOX Network website in Japan, FOX is set to rebrand from 1st March 2024 to DLife. The new brand will continue to provide Japanese viewers with comprehensive global entertainment content, with a focus on high-quality foreign drama, including award-winning popular series. 

“Dlife” inherits the 25-year tradition of the “FOX” channel in Japan, and continues to enjoy shows such as “NCIS” and “Criminal Minds”, which continue to enjoy high ratings in the United States. Warner Bros. Discovery also trademarks a similar brand name in some countries.

From long-loved series such as ``Frontline'' and ``FBI: Special Investigations Unit,'' to works that have been broadcast for the first time in Japan, we have and will continue to provide high-quality works centered on the best dramas from around the world. 

Prior to the rebrand, Disney is set to phase out the remaining FOX channels in Portugal (including Angola and Mozambique) for Star by early 2024. They are also looking to close their remaining linear offering across Asia.

Development Alert: FOX And FOX Life Will Become FX And FX Life Across Baltics And CIS By January 2024, More International Disney Channels Are Expected To Close

FX returns to the Nordic and Baltics region

The Nordic and Baltic branches of The Walt Disney Company will adopt a new name and a striking visual identity on January 24, 2024, when FOX and FOX Life become FX and FX Life. FX and FX Life continue to deliver familiar and beloved content, bringing premium entertainment, including the best international series, to local audiences. 

“When FOX and FOX Life become FX and FX Life, our overall entertainment content will align with the Disney+ streaming platform while continuing to offer fans their favorite stories. This includes global hit series such as Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, This is Us, Castle, 9-1-1 and more. 

We look forward to bringing new shows and high-quality entertainment to our Estonian audience next year," said Hans van Rijn, SVP and Head of The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic. He added, "Linear television remains a priority for us, enabling our audiences to experience exciting content from the many world-class studios in the Disney family." 

The FX brand has been refined and adapted to meet the needs of local television, while maintaining the bold and confident legacy created by FOX.

Disney is pulling the cord of more TV channels

Since Disney+ inception back in 2019, Disney has closed various Disney Channels across the UK, Asia and Italy while a majority of channels still reside within Europe and Africa. Part of which still have no access to Disney+ and are therefore just losing out on content.

Theoretically, it was estimated that Disney could close their remaining linear offering by 2025 but Disney+ is still not sustainable in some of the areas launched. The linear offering is one way to help sustain the streamer and if possible lure potential audiences.

Despite the setback, Disney was still able to close it's remaining linear offering in Asia who also handle operations in the Middle East and North Africa. Since then a majority of international feeds are aligned/managed within Southern Africa (also known as Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Although there's no official confirmation, National Geographic People (Nat Geo People) and FOX Action Movies are anticipated to go dark by 2024 across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seeing as these were handled in Asia whose offering is being migrated to Disney+. 

As mentioned, most international territories (including MENA) are being handled by Disney EMEA who only supply children brands Disney Channel and Disney Junior alongside factual brands National Geographic and National Geographic Wild.

In Portugal, all the FOX channels are being folded under the Star brand by 2024 (i.e. FOX Life becomes Star Life). This includes consumers in Angola and Mozambique for which MultiChoice operates their service and also supply the affected brands like FOX, FOX Life and FOX Comedy.

Recap To The Week: Disney's ESPN 1 Currently Seen On DStv And StarSat Is Set To Take On SABC Sport

During the day, it was reported that MultiChoice and Disney would be adding the US sports channel ESPN 1 to its R129 per month DStv Access package. It was previously only available on the R449-a-month Compact package or higher which concide with the addition of NWTV.

Since Openview's inception, it served as a rival brand to DStv's existing offering with general entertainment channels like eReality and eSeries, lifestyle brands like People's Weather and The Home Channel+ and Bollywood entertainment from Star Life and Zee One.

They had also garnered popularity from SABC Sport which serves as one of the top 10 most watched channels on the Openview platform.

In previous years, Access served as somewhat of an underling to the freemium platform as it lacked a worthy advisory to the current offering. Despite offering more channels there wasn't noteworthy content on the bouquet and in recent years MultiChoice had started to catch-up with eMedia Investments.

Zee Zonke was added back in August as the first Zulu dubbed telenovela channel and also Access consumers first Bollywood channel with the likes of Star Life and eExtra's Kuiertyd partially contributing to Openview's success and from December ESPN 1 will be added to the bouquet.

ESPN 1 features live football from the English Football League (EFL), Scottish Premier Football League (SPFL), Dutch Eredivisie and Major League Soccer (MLS), as well as local sports like West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations and featured boxing tournaments and events.

It will basically take on SABC Sport which too had been dominant on football particularly with Bundesliga, Cosafa Women’s Championship and Liverpool Football Club with other content like Racing Today (from 4Racing TV), Max Power and Retro Boxing.

Development Alert: MultiChoice And The Walt Disney Company Extend The Reach Of ESPN 1 To DStv Family And Access Customers PERMANENTLY

MultiChoice has announced that it is adding the US sports channel ESPN 1 to its R129 per month DStv Access package.

DStv Access customers will have access to the channel starting 1 December 2023. It was previously only available on the R449-a-month Compact package or higher.

ESPN focuses on US sports like basketball, American football, and baseball, giving fans of these sports in South Africa a significantly lower entry point to watch them.

Popular competitions include the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL).

“We continue to monitor viewership trends and are thrilled to be adding ESPN 1 for our DStv Access customers,” said Marc Jury, CEO of MultiChoice South Africa.

“This announcement is our way of rewarding our loyal customers with a wider catalogue of entertaining content to choose from,” he added.

“We are also excited that this move will also give sports fans out there looking to get more, for less, an opportunity to stay in the game and take our offering to be front row of the best sports entertainment in the world.”

Basketball and American football fans in South Africa will have access to a slew of NFL and NBA fixtures over the festive season, including on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.

“We look forward to celebrating the achievements and triumphs of both international and local athletes, our quality storytelling and innovative content with a brand new audience of sports fans across the continent,” says Kyle de Klerk, director of sport for the Walt Disney Company Africa.

MultiChoice Renews Several Studio Deals Including NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney And More

Every year, MultiChoice would usually host a content showcase where they'd display various attractions currently or yet to be seen across their platforms. 2023 was one of those years were for some reason none of this occurred so another option would be the interim results.

Interim results are usually the one way MultiChoice is able to engage with consumers about the performance on their platforms and also a downsized version to the content showcase which reflect mostly toward their assets than 3rd parties.

It is through this report hidden way in a page is the renewal agreement with NBCUniversal, MGM, Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and Disney for their content distributed to M-Net and linear channels. Of course, MultiChoice doesn't provide a duration or terms to these new agreements as seen with Disney back in 2021.

It was also highlighted that they had reduced 3rd parties cost which could mean a number of things: First with Showmax 2.0. set to rollout in the first quarter of 2024 MultiChoice would have to reduce their portfolio so that NBCUniversal can use their 30% stake in the platform.

M-Net had undergone a similar route following the rollout of Disney+ and had since then (co-)produced a number of shows like Devil's Peak, Reyka, Recipe For Love And Murder, and Blood Psalms.

Another would have to pertain to their linear offering, most companies highlighted provide a selection of factual, lifestyle, general entertainment and children's channels. It's likely that one of these channels are going dark soon if not building the lineup for another channel.

National Geographic possibly becoming a member of A+E Networks could mean the end of National Geographic Wild as A+E Networks sustains one channel. Nickelodeon possibly being sold to Warner Bros. Discovery would signal the end of Nicktoons and Nick Jr. as linear channels.

Possible Channel Termination: Could National Geographic Wild's Content Get Migrated Onto National Geographic And Disney+?

A few months ago, Disney and Spectrum renewed their agreement which saw brands like ABC, Disney Channel and National Geographic remain onboard their platforms while secondary channels like FXX, Disney Junior and National Geographic Wild went dark on their platforms.

Since then it has brought a lot of questions regarding the future of these brands as well as others distributed by NBCUniversal, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Disney on the other hand had explored the possibility of selling some of their linear channels.

Current properties like Disney Star is said to be acquired by Reliance with Disney said to be holding minority stake in the company and a similar fate is said be awaiting both ESPN and National Geographic of course we've received an update on one of the latter channels.

According to sources, Disney is looking to sell or better yet fold National Geographic under A+E Networks. Home to factual brands like HISTORY, Lifetime and Crime + Investigation, it serves as a joint venture between Disney, Sky (Europe) and Hearst Corporation.

The idea of possible sale of National Geographic came through a recent survey into the market which revealed that ABC, FX and Disney Channel were priority brands for audiences especially Disney when it pertains to profit making National Geographic and Disney Junior obsolete.

A+E Networks operates a number of singular brands as mentioned above so wouldn't seem far fetched if National Geographic Wild were to merge onto National Geographic and Disney+ seeing now that the main channel is not viewed as a priority brand on both cable and streamer.

National Geographic would remain intact for the time being but overtime they'd be shortage in programming which could lead to more cord cutting or in this case National Geographic Wild. As the content from Wild would help build the lineup of the main channel.

HISTORY vs. National Geographic

As mentioned, HISTORY which operates under A+E Networks is a factual entertainment channel which offers programming based on mechanical and civil engineering, science, mystical creatures and organised crimes part of which resides within National Geographic.

With National Geographic Wild possibly on the chopping block perhaps the main National Geographic channel will take up the identity of Wild and focus solely on wildlife and natural history programming as seen with rival brands like BBC Earth. 

Another would be the company's property being distributed on National Geographic as a means to get more recognition for their portfolio.

In other developments, Disney is set to close their remaining linear offering in parts of Asia by the end of December and this includes National Geographic and National Geographic Wild as the company is putting more emphasis toward the direct to consumer business.

Disney Is Reportedly Looking To Sell National Geographic And Freeform To A+E Networks

Ever since back in July 2023, in an interview with CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger left an option open to sell some of its TV assets, including ESPN, ABC, and more. Now we have a new report that Disney may have a buyer in mind for some of its networks, including Freeform and National Geographic.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney has completed its review of its cable networks and has decided which ones it wants to sell. According to this report, three networks are seen as the most profitable to Disney, including ABC, FX, and the Disney Channel. These channels produce a lot of content not just for cable TV but also for its streaming service, Disney+.

According to this report, Disney is considering selling some of its smaller networks, including Freeform and National Geographic to A+E Network. This deal will let Disney keep partial ownership of these networks as A+E Networks is already a joint effort between Disney and Hearst.

This sale would let Disney break free of the high costs of these networks and remove them from their books. At the same time, keeping the door open for any potential profits from these networks. This is very similar to what AT&T did by spinning off DIRECTV but still keeping a majority ownership.

A+E Networks is a 50/50 split between Disney and Hearst Communications. In the past A+E Networks was also owned by NBCUniversal, but they sold their share to Dinsey and Hearst in July of 2012. Hearst and Disney also share ownership of ESPN, with Hearst being a minority owner.

Excluding ESPN, Disney saw TV network revenue drop 9.1% in the 4th quarter of 2023. Cutting some unprofitable networks like Freeform could help Disney reduce these losses on its books.

Recap To The Week: Disney's Festive Advert Launches 'May Your Wishes Come True' Campaign

Disney has launched a holiday campaign called ‘May Your Wishes Come True’ focusing on the power of wishes for its 100th anniversary. The campaign includes the first live-action festive ad, titled ‘A Wish For The Holidays,’ which takes inspiration from the soon-to-be released Walt Disney Animation Studios’ movie Wish and will launch in more than 50 countries.

 

The ad is directed by Grammy Award-winning Nigerian/British director Meji Alabi and was fully shot in Cape Town, South Africa and features scenes representing six geographical locations and languages. It tells the stories of families and friends from around the world, who are united by a universal wish to be together with their loved ones during the Holidays, recognising a range of festive traditions.

 

Director Meji Alabi said: “I feel lucky to have collaborated with such a diverse group of people on Disney’s Holiday campaign this year. There were so many stand-out moments for me during the filming, but I think the most memorable was watching the South African kids choir sing their lines. It truly gave me goosebumps.”

 

The ad includes the globally recognisable song ‘A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes’ from Cinderella, rearranged to enable multiple performers to come together with one united voice. English-language voice of Asha and Academy Award-winning actress and singer Ariana DeBose delivers the opening line in the English version, and voice actresses in markets around the world sing it in other languages.

 

The ad has been globally produced by Ridley Scott Associates across the US, UK and South Africa and developed in collaboration with the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products internal advertising agency Yellow Shoes.

 

Joss Hastings, VP Global Marketing, Disney Consumer Products, Games & Publishing, said: “Holiday traditions may look different around the world but however and wherever you’re celebrating, we all share the wish to be with the ones we love during this special time of year. Inspired by Walt Disney Animation Studios’ new movie ‘Wish,’ the advertisement brings voices from around the world together as a global choir for a powerful rendition of the iconic ‘A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.’ We hope fans enjoy the new twist on a Disney classic as we celebrate 100 years of storytelling and the integral role that music has played.”

 

The global premiere of the advert comes hot on the heels of the recent unveiling of a co-branded celebratory aircraft livery in collaboration with LIFT airlines, to kick-off “May Your Wishes Come True”. With a host of surprise elements for customers planned, the Disney-inspired plane is currently serving customers and routes between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Travellers are encouraged to share their pics on social media, using the hashtag #DisneyandLIFT and tagging @DisneyAfrica and @LIFT__SA.

 

“Following the collaboration with LIFT airlines, what better way to continue the launch of our biggest retail campaign to date in South Africa than with this locally-shot advert.” Says Luke Roberts, General Manager, Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, The Walt Disney Company Africa. “Inspired by the universal truth that they wish to be together during the holidays, we look forward to celebrating with South African families and fans throughout the festive period.”

 

This holiday season, Disney’s “May Your Wishes Come True” will offer the perfect opportunity to stock up on those gifts for every member of the family – bringing stories and characters to life through innovative products across multiple categories: from toys and apparel to jewelry, technology and consumables, including brand-new products from the movie Wish, including Lego and figurines.

 

South African shoppers can also look forward to various activations at shopping malls around the country, including Disney-plush-adorned Christmas Trees. Proudly presented in association with VISA and Investec, with support from Toys R US, the trees will feature the opportunity for visitors to give back through donations to Reach for a Dream.

 

With much more to share, this festive season is set to be an unforgettable one as we wish together for the holidays.

 

#MayYourWishesComeTrue

Reliance In Talks To Buy Majority Stake In Disney's Star Indian Business

Over the past few months, there have been many reports that Disney has been looking at its options with regards to its business in India, called Disney Star, formerly known as Star India, which it acquired when it purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019. Disney Star includes the streaming service Disney+ Hotstar, film studios such as Star Studios, an array of over seventy linear channels, and much more.

In the past few months, Disney has been having talks with many different businesses, including Sony, Blackstone, Sun TV and New Delhi TV, about potentially selling some or all of its assets in India. According to Bloomberg , Reliance Industries Ltd, which is owned by Asia’s richest tycoon Mukesh Ambani, is getting close to completing a deal to buy Disney Star in a cash and stock deal. Disney is valuing its Indian business at around $10 billion (down from the $15 billion it was worth before Disney purchased it in 2019), and Reliance is valuing the business between $7 and $8 billion.

Disney is still looking to keep a minority stake in the company, but it would sell a controlling stake in Disney Star. But it still may keep hold of some assets. There might also be some regulatory issues that could cause delays with the buyout. We’ve seen with other large mergers that the Indian government might require some assets to be sold off separately.

It’s expected that the announcement of a deal could be made as early as next month. Disney does have a quarterly financial investors call on November 8th 2024, so announcing this deal, could help Disney offset the costs of buying out Comcast’s stake in Hulu, which is estimated to cost around $9 billion. Allowing Disney to basically sell off one business to cover its purchase, allowing Disney to focus on its core markets. Reliance would merge some of its media units into Disney Star.

JioCinema, which Reliance runs, has been a thorn in Disney’s side, having paid billions of dollars to get the Indian Premiere Cricket league rights, which resulted in Disney+ Hotstar losing over 20 million subscribers. Plus, recently, JioCinema also picked up the rights to HBO content, which was then removed from Disney+ Hotstar.

It’s unknown if Disney+ Hotstar will continue in its current setup or be merged with JioCinema. Could Disney+ just operate separately in India, without the Hotstar branding and content, which could move over to JioCinema? There are certainly more questions than answers right now.

So, what does this mean for Disney+ and Hulu around the world?

At the moment, officially, no deal has been announced, and no details on what’s actually going to happen have been revealed. There are many variables and potential outcomes from Disney selling its Indian assets. Selling Star India wouldn’t likely have much impact outside India, other than a potential move away from the Star branding and maybe changing the name of Disney+ Hotstar in some countries like Indonesia.

If Disney does sell off Disney Star, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the Star hub within Disney+ around the world, rebranded to Hulu once Disney completes its purchase from Comcast. Disney has rebranded many linear channels to Star in countries worldwide, which might be another issue that results in more rebranding. While in Latin America, Disney runs a streaming service called, Star+, which is a Hulu & ESPN+ hybrid, but there is always hope Disney unifies Star+ and Disney+ in that region, to be similar to how Disney+ works internationally. The Star brand has only been used by Disney since 2019, and arguably, the brand is very generic and could easily be changed.

Disney is still running Hotstar as a separate streaming service in many countries, including Canada, Singapore and the UK, so those could be included in the deal. Hulu does have some Hotstar content from India, so this could continue to be licensed or eventually removed.

If Disney+ Hotstar was completely sold off, it would obviously have a significant impact on the global subscriber numbers for Disney+. However, Wall Street may prefer this, since a Hotstar subscriber generally brings in less than 60 cents per month, compared to over $7 outside of India. Investors may also like a more leaner Disney, focused on its core brands.

For Disney+ Hotstar subscribers, it does bring up many questions about what happens could be merged together and what the future is for its content. Internationally, it brings the Star branding into question. But ultimately, Disney does seem like its less interested in running a vast linear, streaming and studio business in India, instead treating it like more other countries in the world.

It’s important to note, that no final decision has been made, and Disney could still decide to hold onto the assets, but the Star Studios and linear channels, being sold off does seem much more likely.

Disney Africa And LIFT Unveil Plane Livery This Holiday Season

The Walt Disney Company Africa and LIFT today unveiled a co-branded celebratory aircraft livery to kick-off Disney’s biggest festive campaign to date in South Africa, “May Your Wishes Come True”.

The livery features some of the most iconic and memorable characters from Disney, MARVEL and Star WarsTM, including: Disney’s Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Moana, Black Panther, GroguTM, Elsa, Spidey. A brand new character also makes an appearance, Asha, from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming “Wish", which releases in cinemas nationwide from 22 November. The Disney inspired plane (tail number ZS-GAS) will appear in South African skies and at airports from 20 October and service routes between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

On board, customers can expect special Disney and LIFT surprises, as well as kiddies activity packs to make flying with little ones a breeze during the busy holiday season, with giveaways and more treats. The excitement won't stop there, because LIFT has additional surprises between 1 and 12 December for lucky travelers on select flights, as South Africans get ready for the festive season.

Fans and travellers who spot or travel on the Disney-inspired Plane can share their pics on social media, using the hashtag #DisneyandLIFT and tagging @DisneyAfrica and @LIFT__SA.

Says Christine Service, Senior Vice President and General Manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa: "To mark our 100th year anniversary (16 October 2023), The Walt Disney Company is celebrating the fans and storytellers who have sparked the joy and magic that embodies Disney over the last century. We hope that this exciting and unique collaboration with LIFT will bring delight to travellers of all ages this holiday season as we mark this milestone anniversary.”

Says Luke Roberts, General Manager, Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, The Walt Disney Company Africa; “Rolling out in stores nationwide from November, “May Your Wishes Come True” is Disney’s biggest retail campaign to date. With the holiday season approaching and “Wish” releasing in cinemas nationwide from 24 November, we are inspired by the universal truth of wishing to be together at this special time. This collaboration with LIFT truly celebrates this togetherness with families and fans.”

Says Jonathan Ayache, CEO of LIFT.: “As a beloved family brand, Disney is a perfect fit for LIFT. With our new livery, together we celebrate the love, magic and family togetherness that signals the festive season. We’re proud to link arms with Disney, through this collaboration, our hope is to ignite a sense of fun, wonder and excitement for the whole family during the upcoming season of school holidays and family celebrations.”

Customers can visit www.lift.co.za to book flights and stand a chance of flying on the #DisneyandLIFT aircraft. Travellers aboard the airline will continue to enjoy all the perks LIFT has to offer including complimentary snacks, coffee from vida e caffè and extra-friendly service from the stylish cabin crew. LIFT has flexible flight changes with unlimited penalty-free changes and no cancellation fees up to 24 hours before departure.

From November, Disney’s “May Your Wishes Come True” will offer the perfect opportunity to stock up on those gifts for every member of the family – from stocking fillers, toys, apparel, books and so much more – featuring the very latest and greatest from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. With much more to share, this festive season is set to be an unforgettable one as we wish together for the holidays.

Recap To The Month: National Geographic And National Geographic Wild MENA Had Been Merged With EMEA, FOX Might Close Within The Region

Following the inception of Disney+, multiple Disney Channels have been closing down across the world as the company looks to consolidate their content to the streamer. They've also been looking at possibly selling their linear offering of course this is applicable to the United States.

But from what this entails, Disney is working towards a deadline to the remaining linear offering with Asia set to close theirs by the end of the year with a lot of European countries still harvesting most channels and other regions which have yet to receive Disney+.

Last month, Disney closed a number of linear channels across Asia and this included National Geographic and National Geographic Wild. They also managed the brands of the same name whose feeds had since then been managed within EMEA following these closures.

Despite having its operations merged with Africa, National Geographic Wild to date still has varied offering from the rest of Europe which brings to question it's future as a pay-tv channel. 

From what we've heard, Disney EMEA now takes charge of National Geographic Wild but unlike Disney Channel it appears Disney Asia still maintains control of the channel. Either National Geographic Wild will integrate probably by 31 December 2023 or close down to its entirety.

Prior to the demise of Disney MENA, the FOX channel remain intact within these regions. Considering that Disney in Asia and EMEA no longer supply the FOX brand as further content has been integrated to Disney+ it's likely that the channel will close down.

Another theory that would come in mind would be having Disney merge the FOX MENA (Arabic) with the ones seen in Portugal and Mozambique (Portuguese). Seeing as most FOX channels such as FX and FOX Movies trace back to these territories its the only liable option.

GoQuest Media Will Now Handle Distribution Of Disney Star Across Africa

Indian broadcaster Disney Star, which operates the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service, has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Mumbai-based distributor GoQuest Media.

The pact sees GoQuest becoming the sole distributor for Disney Star’s content portfolio across Africa, including content dubbed in both English and Hindi and encompassing TV and OTT rights to Disney Star’s linear programming catalogue.

Across a TV network that the company claims reaches more than 700 million viewers in nine languages every month and its successful streaming platform, Disney Star generates more than 20,000 hours of original content every year, including general entertainment, sports, films, infotainment, kids and lifestyle content.

The catalogue GoQuest will be shopping in Africa includes Anupamaa, Imlie, Kasauti Zindagii Kay, Yeh Jaadu Hai Jinn Ka and Chandra Nandini, under an agreement that “represents a strategic move to bring popular Indian content to a wider African audience,” according to the two parties.

The move comes after GoQuest has introduced foreign-language titles to Africa over the past 10 years. GoQuest MD Vivek Lath said: “Our track record, strong partnerships and knowledge of the region and local audiences have positioned us as the ideal team to introduce Disney Star’s Indian collection to this market.”

Sudhir Nagpal, head of international business at Disney Star, added: “Africa has a strong viewer base for our content, especially for our series across languages. We continuously seek opportunities to connect with our audience and this collaboration with GoQuest Media is another step in that direction.”

News Shorts: An HD Feed To The Disney Channel Is Rumoured To Be In Development For DStv, Motor Mythbusters Make Their African Debut On Ignition TV And SABC 3 Scoops Up Doccie Series The Elon Musk Show Formerly Seen On M-Net

Disney Channel is going HD

For several years now, MultiChoice has managed to operate a number of premium channels in HD including M-Net, 1Magic, Discovery, TLC, MTV, Comedy Central and Food Network with Disney's bulk being the last to integrate with National Geographic moving over in 2021.

Now Disney Channel looks to join its sister channels and also rival brands Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon as MultiChoice appears to have begun work on an HD feed for the channel meaning Disney Junior will probably be the only Disney branded channel not in HD.

As mentioned, National Geographic and National Geographic Wild were integrated in 2021 while ESPN 1 and ESPN 2 were HD beforehand. Disney Junior not being in HD means that Cartoonito (formerly Boomerang) remains as the only preschool brand on DStv to integrate.

More Motor Trend for Ignition

If you're a major #petrolhead and enjoy the thrill of cracking myths then this show is definitely for you.

Motor Mythbusters follows a joyful search for truth behind popular automotive myths, to try to answer the biggest questions on every car fan's mind.

Be sure to tune in from 1st October at 20:00.

Elon Musk makes his free-to-air debut on SABC 3

The Elon Musk Show gets to the heart of who Elon Musk really is, by interviewing the people that know him best. Family members, employees, close friends and enemies tell the intimate story of Elon Musk’s incredible journey to become the world’s richest man.

Using extensive archive footage taken throughout his life, from South Africa to Silicon Valley, the series analyses the key moments in Elon’s career, from his first tech start-ups through to Tesla and SpaceX.

M-Net and Showmax picked up rights to the BBC docu-series back in December and after almost a year more consumers in South Africa can explore the story of the world's most richest man Elon Musk every Monday at 21:00 from 30th October just in time for halloween.

Could NBCU's Universal Kids Or Sky UK's Sky Kids Expand To Africa??? Perhaps As A Future Replacement To Disney Channel On DStv

Sky Kids is a children's channel operated by Sky Group a subsidiary of Comcast which features live-action shows like My Friend Misty, The Brilliant World Of Tom Gates and Dino Club alongside animation like Where's Wally?, Clifford and Trollstopia.

Internationally, it is known as DreamWorks Channel and a local variation known as Universal Kids residing in the United States both of which are operated by NBCUniversal also a subsidiary of Comcast.

Disney is looking to consolidate their content to streaming as linear TV is no longer viewed as the core of their business as mentioned earlier. This has led to the cancellation of several Disney Channels in the United Kingdom, Asia, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

In Africa, these channels had extended through 2024 on DStv and are expected to go dark at some point. Thereafter, MultiChoice would need to sought replacement channels in order to keep viewers onboard their platforms and fill the void left by Disney.

With the lack of children channels across the world, MultiChoice would most likely need to curate a customary channel similar to AMC International and Paramount Global's CBS Justice and JimJam or Ngwato Nkosi Group Movie Room and Play Room channels.

Sky Kids wouldn't seem like a far fetched brand to incorporate within the DStv platform despite the pay-tv platform already packaging DreamWorks. Some content is very much viewed on Showmax prior to the announcement that NBCUniversal had acquired a 30% stake to streamer.

NBCUniversal also supply Universal, E! Entertainment, Studio Universal and Telemundo to DStv.

This kids channel likely titled Universal Kids would see MultiChoice and NBCUniversal join forces supplying content that is not only viewable on Sky Kids in the UK but also shows streaming on Showmax or in other words a follow-up to the defunct K-TV kids brand.